Mario Stanić
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| Personal information | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 10 April 1972 | ||||||||
| Place of birth | Sarajevo, SFR Yugoslavia | ||||||||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 1 1⁄2 in) | ||||||||
| Playing position |
Attacking midfielder Forward | ||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||
| Željezničar | |||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† | ||||||
| 1988–1992 | Željezničar | 63 | (12) | ||||||
| 1992–1993 | Croatia Zagreb | 26 | (11) | ||||||
| 1993–1994 | Sporting Gijón | 34 | (7) | ||||||
| 1994–1995 | Benfica | 14 | (5) | ||||||
| 1995–1996 | Club Brugge | 37 | (27) | ||||||
| 1996–2000 | Parma | 77 | (19) | ||||||
| 2000–2004 | Chelsea | 59 | (7) | ||||||
| Total | 310 | (88) | |||||||
| National team | |||||||||
| 1991 | Yugoslavia | 2 | (0) | ||||||
| 1993 | Croatia U21 | 2 | (1) | ||||||
| 1995–2003 | Croatia | 49 | (7) | ||||||
Honours
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* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. | |||||||||
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Mario Stanić (born 10 April 1972) is a former Croatian footballer. Being a versatile offensive player, he was no stranger to any forward or attacking midfield position, and was even deployed as a wing-back in the national team.
Club career
Stanić started his career with Željezničar Sarajevo. He was considered to be one of the most talented young players in former Yugoslavia. In 1992, war began and Stanić escaped to Slavonski Brod wading the Sava and moved to Croatia, where he played for Croatia Zagreb. After only one season, he moved to Spanish Sporting de Gijón, and year later to S.L. Benfica in Portugal. In 1995, he arrived at Club Brugge and was top scorer of the Belgian First Division that year with 20 goals. Then Parma bought him in late 1996 and he played four seasons with that side.
Chelsea
Stanić joined Chelsea on a £5.6 million transfer in June 2000. He became Vialli's third signing, after Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Eiður Guðjohnsen.[1] Stanić made his league debut in a 4–2 home win against West Ham United in August 2000, where he scored a brace, one of them a strike from 35 yards.[2] The goal was later nominated for the Goal of the Season on BBC's Match of the Day programme.[3]
International career
He won 49 international caps and scored seven goals for the Croatian national team between 1995 and 2003, making his international debut in a Euro 1996 qualifier against Estonia in September 1995. He made three appearances for Croatia at the Euro 1996 finals in England and went on to appear in all of the team's seven matches at the 1998 FIFA World Cup finals in France, where they won the bronze medal. At the latter tournament, he scored Croatia's first-ever World Cup goal in their opening 3-1 victory over Jamaica and assisted in Robert Jarni's opening goal in their 3-0 victory over Germany in the quarterfinals. Stanić also made two appearances for Croatia at the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals as a second-half substitute, only to see Croatia fall short of qualifying for the second round of the tournament. His last international appearance came in April 2003 as a half-time substitute in a friendly match against Sweden.
He was forced to retire at the age of 32 after developing a serious knee injury during the 2003-04 league season.
International goals
| Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 April 1996 | Gradski vrt, Osijek |  Hungary |
4 – 1 | 4 – 1 | Friendly |
| 2–3 | 22 April 1998 | Gradski vrt, Osijek |  Poland |
2 – 0 | 4 – 1 | Friendly |
| 3 – 0 | ||||||
| 4 | 14 June 1998 | Félix-Bollaert, Lens |  Jamaica |
1 – 0 | 3 – 1 | World Cup 1998 |
| 5 | 21 August 1999 | Maksimir, Zagreb |  Malta |
1 – 0 | 2 – 1 | Euro 2000 Qualifying |
| 6 | 9 October 1999 | Maksimir, Zagreb |  FR Yugoslavia |
2 – 2 | 2 – 2 | Euro 2000 Qualifying |
| 7 | 26 April 2000 | Ernst Happel, Vienna |  Austria |
2 – 1 | 2 – 1 | Friendly |
Honours
Club
- Croatian First League: 1992-93
International
- Croatia
- FIFA World Cup Third place: 1998
Individual
- Belgian First Division Top Scorer: 1995-96
References
- ↑ "Chelsea sign Croatian star". BBC News (British Broadcasting Corporation). 28 June 2000. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
- ↑ "Stanic brace sinks Hammers". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 20 August 2000. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
- ↑ "Super Mario arrives". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 15 May 2001. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
External links
- Mario Stanić – FIFA competition record
- Mario Stanić statistics and biography at FootballDatabase.com
- Mario Stanić at National-Football-Teams.com
- Mario Stanić Yugoslavia stats at Reprezentacija.rs (Serbian)
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